A mirror-less, multi-beam photonic free-electron laser oscillator pumped far beyond threshold

Abstract

In a photonic free-electron laser electrons are transmitted through a photonic crystal in the form of one or multiple electron beams to generate coherent Cerenkov radiation. Here we consider a photonic-crystal slab consisting of a two-dimensional, periodic array of bars inside a rectangular waveguide, with both ends tapered to provide complete transmission of an electromagnetic wave. By appropriately designing the photonic-crystal slab, we obtain a backward wave interaction at low electron beam energy of around 15 kV, that results in distributed feedback of the radiation on the electrons without any external mirrors being present. Here we numerically study the dynamics of the laser oscillator when pumped far beyond threshold with one or multiple electron beams. We show that using multiple beams with the same total current provide better suppression of higher-order modes and can produce more output power, compared to the laser pumped by a single beam of the same total current.